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Residents have called for urgent safety improvements to be made at a Croydon tower block after three women and a baby had to be rescued from a broken down lift.

The three women, one of whom is pregnant, and a new-born baby were trapped in the faulty lift last Wednesday evening (June 27).

After a frantic struggle, a group of men, including two of the women's partners, managed to force apart the doors to create enough space to free them, with video being filmed to capture the dramatic rescue.

The incident has left some residents feeling unsafe living in the high-rise building.

Cesar Rodriguez, 40, lives on the 10th floor of the tower block, in Sydenham Road, in the town centre, and says the lift is constantly breaking down.

Katie Moss, who is five months pregnant, was one of the women trapped in the lift.

The trainee nurse was on her way to her work, at about 6.50pm, when the lift broke down.

She said: "A lady got in on the fifth floor and it then dropped a little bit. We were stuck.

"We tried to push the door open and we pushed the button [inside the lift] for help, but we couldn't hear the lady very well and the line was cut off. We [she and one of the other women] then both tried [calling] our partners."

The stuck women then managed to get hold of the helpline once more and were assured engineers would be sent out.

"One of the other ladies [in the lift] called the fire brigade as well," Katie said.

"It was getting quite hot in the lift so we took our jackets off.

"I suffer with nausea because of my pregnancy and I am prone to fainting sometimes. Everyone was just so worried about the baby. The baby was fine, but it was quite agitated.

"We could hear the boys outside, and they did manage to let some air in, which was really good. We were just trying to stay calm. At first we were thinking no one is going to come."

Katie, who lives on the eighth floor, does not want to use the lift again as she is worried it could happen again.

She said: "The second lift [in the block of flats] is always down [not working] and the first lift [which the women were trapped in last week] always breaks down and is fixed within a day.

"The stairs are [a problem] as well, they have just been worn and torn and the carpet has been ripped up. There are just so many issues."

Mr Rodriguez, who only moved in three months ago, says that many residents are frightened of using the lifts for fear that they will break.

He said: "The lift is something that just never works. We [Mr Rodriguez and his wife] thought it was something that would just eventually be fixed.